Sweden may need to reconsider when to join the euro if the EU's budget pact aiming at balanced public finances collapses, Prime Minister Mr Goran Persson said today.
But he said he saw "no signs" that the EU's growth and stability pact, which says public budget deficits must not exceed 3 per cent of national gross domestic product, was crumbling.
The EU Commission was abiding by the rules in its treatment of big member states such as Germany and France, whose budget shortfalls currently exceed 3 per cent, Mr Persson said.
Sweden will hold a referendum on euro membership on September 14th and has been widely expected to introduce the euro in 2006 if the plebiscite returns a "Yes".
"There is no timetable on our ballots. . . . It is up to the parliament and the government to decide when we go in. And it is obvious that the requirements we are now talking about, a functioning stability pact, must naturally be in place," said Mr Persson.
He leads the "Yes" campaign that is clearly behind euro opponents just over two weeks before the referendum.